CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Broadway Joe, the original party-boy quarterback, says folks should back off Johnny Football and that the rookie quarterback should hunker down and tune out the noise.

In an interview Monday on NFL Network's "Total Access,'' Joe Namath was about the criticism of Manziel's partying.

"What difference does it make, really?" Namath said. "And it is an example of the different eras and time. I do know this about Johnny Manziel: I haven't seen anyone perform any better than Johnny the last two seasons on that football field.

"And I do know that we love entertainment. Football is a sport, but it is show biz. It is entertainment. And Johnny -- he's gotta live his life, man. You know, give him some room. I've been to Vegas, you guys have probably been to Vegas. Give the man a little bit of room. But, you see, in his position, he's not entitled to be a regular guy, 22 years old or 21 years old. Everything's blown out of whack.

"I'd love him on my team, let me just say that."

The Hall of Famer and former Super Bowl MVP for the Jets, who was legendary for his nonstop partying back in the day, would advise the Browns quarterback not to read his press-clippings -- or his twitter mentions.

"I don't want to get on the wrong side of the media,'' Namath said. "Never get in a fight with a guy that buys his ink by the barrel. But I would tell Johnny, 'don't read about yourself. Don't watch things that have to do with you and the Cleveland Browns.

"'Johnny, you know what you're doing, you know what your team is doing; trust in that.' Other people have a tendency to paint us as individuals the way they see us, or our team and teammates. I'd tell Johnny, just go ahead and live his life and make sure he does what's right with his team and society and he'll be cool. Anything else, watching yourself on t.v., that can be tough, or reading about yourself, that is a focus breaker.''

Unfazed by Manziel's lifestyle, Namath loves what he's seen of him on the field.

"What sticks initially is the second, third, fourth effort,'' Namath said. "The play is never over with this guy. He doesn't give up on a play. Also, he has this innate, feeling sense that when people are around him in crowd, how to move without even looking at them. He insists on trying to continue the play.

"He's got pretty good quickness. I don't want to say very good, because he's not Chris Johnson, but my man can get out of there. He can change directions, and he's a good passer. Already he's good passer and he's only going to get better.''

Namath, who got sober in 2004 for the second time about a month after he asked ESPN's Suzy Kolber to kiss him during a live sideline interview, admitted that he couldn't have been the same hard-living Broadway Joe in the '60s and '70s had there been social media and camera phones.

"I would have had to adjust,'' he said. "No doubt, I wouldn't have been the same guy. I would've probably practiced what I was trying to tell Johnny, you know, kind of stay in his shell to some extent. It would've been different. What can I say? It wouldn't have been the same.''

At the height of his playing career, Namath once said, "I only drink in two situations: when I'm with others and when I'm by myself.''

He got sober in 1990 after the birth of his daughter, but started drinking again after his divorce in 1999, and hit bottom again in the aftermath of the Kolber interview in December of 2003. About a year later, on ESPNews, he said his sobriety was a matter of life and death.

"It'd kill me," Namath said. "I know it was just a matter of time.

He acknowledged in an interview on 60 Minutes in 2006 that it was a constant battle and that he had to steer clear of his imaginary drinking buddy.

"Slick is there,'' Namath said. "Slick's whispering to you....You start getting flashes in your head and then, fortunately, I know it's no contest. Lifestyle without [alcohol] is far healthier, more fun, more beneficial.''

Over the past three weekends, Manziel has partied in Vegas with Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, in Los Angeles with hip-hop star Drake, and in Austin, Texas on an inflatable swan.

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